He told her he had lost his way in the storm and been detained by Squire Anneys; and she praised the Squire, and said that she would evermore love him for his kindness. "I met him once, at the Election Ball in Kendal. He danced with me; 'we neighbour each other,' you see; and they are a grand old family, I can tell you." "There is a younger brother, called Brune." "I never saw him." "A sister also,--a child yet, but very handsome. You ought to see her." "Why?" "You would like her. I do." "Ulfar, there is a 'thus far' in everything. In your wooing and pursuing, the line lies south of Seat-Ambar. To wrong a woman of that house would be wicked and dangerous." "Why should I wrong her? I have no intention to do so. I say she is a lovely lady, a great beauty, worthy of honest love and supreme devotion." "Such a rant about love and beauty! Nine tenths of the men who talk in this way do but blaspheme Love by taking his name in vain." "However, Elizabeth, it is marriage or the Spanish colonies for me. It is Miss Anneys, or Cuba, New Orleans, and Mexico. Santa Anna is a supreme villain; I have a fancy to see such a specimen." "You are then between the devil and the deep sea; and I should say that the one-legged Spaniard was preferable to the deep sea of matrimony." "She is so fair! She has a virgin timidity that enchants me." "It will become matronly indecision, or mental weakness of will. In the future it will drive you frantic." "Her sweet sensibility--" "Will crystallize into passionate irritation or callous opposition. These childlike, tender, clinging maidens are often capable of sudden and dangerous action. Better go to Cuba, or even to Mexico, Ulfar." "I suppose she has wealth. You will admit that excellence?" "She is co-heir with her brothers. She may have two thousand pounds a year. You cannot afford to marry a girl so poor." "I have not yet come to regard a large sum of money as a kind of virtue, or the want of it as a crime." "Your wife ought to represent you. How can this country-girl help you in the society to which you belong?" "Society! What is society? In its elemental verity it means toil, weariness, loss of rest and health, useless expense, envy, disappointment, heart-burnings,--all for the sake of exchanging entertainments with A and B, C and D. It means chaff instead of wheat." "If you want to be happy, Ulfar, put this girl out of your mind. I am sure her brothers will oppose your suit. They will not let their sister leave Allerdale. No Anneys has ever done so." "You have strengthened my fancy, Elizabeth. There is a deal of happiness in the idea of prevailing, of getting the mastery, of putting hindrances out of the way." "Well, I have given you good advice." "There are many 'counsels of perfection' nobody dreams of following. To advise a man in love not to love, is one of them."